night. of we'll see you next time. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> jennifer: i'm jennifer granholm. tonight in "the war room," the president speaks directly to the american people. mitt romney let's down his guard among a group of fundraisers haven't we seen this movie before? with much of washington still in the throws of general disarray, the president holds his first post election press conference. as to this mandate business. >> obama: i got one mandate. i got a mandate to help middle class families, and families that are working hard. that's my mandate. >> jennifer: and tax cuts to the rich? >> obama: when it comes to the top 2% what i'm not going to do is extend further a tax cut for folks who don't need it. >> jennifer: susan rice has been

under assault as of late. >> obama: when they go after the u.n. ambassador apparently because they think she's an easy target, then they've got a problem with me. >> jennifer: alrighty then. things under control here. we'll just get on back to our regularly scheduled programming. previously on "capitalcapitol affair"." >> obama: general petraeus had an extraordinary career. he serveed this country with distinction in iraq afghanistan, and head of c.i.a. people are innocent until proven guilty. >> jennifer: that's president obama speaking out for the first time about the sex scandal that abruptly ended the career of

four-star general petraeus. he has a lot of people who saw him as a golden boy wondering what happened to the fellow who could do no wrong. but as tonight's first guest points out generals are human too. thomas ricks is a pulitzer prize author of "the generals." welcome inside "the war room"." >> very appropriate. >> jennifer: you've known petraeus for a very long time, for 15 years. >> since he was a colonel. >> jennifer: were you surprised. >> very surprised. he was the last guy--for good and bad reasons. he was a very disciplined guy and someone who kept an eye on his career. who knew how troublesome this could be and went ahead and did it any ways. that surprised me. on the other hand, you put a healthy human being out in the

war zone three tours in iraq, one in afghanistan there are enough stresses that could warp the behavior. i don't know how warped it is to want to have sex sometimes. five years in war zones people in prison are having more sex than these guys are having. >> jennifer: here is the guy petraeus who really was the golden boy. >> he stand out as one of our best generals in several years. we have a bunch of mediocrity but petraeus was the guy who extricates us from iraq, and quite successfully. he does what a general needs to do. he operates differently, figures things out he takes some risk. petraeus was a stand out from the mediocrity of generals. >> jennifer: here is someone who grew up in the code of honor duty and integrity and if

you're doing something like that you don't have integrity because you're separating your public from your private life. isn't that what the rules go to? >> yeah but that's not what reality is about. in war soldiers want one thing. they want to survive. it's not an unreasonable request. they will put up a lot lack of integrity, honor racism alcoholism, impure son of a pitchism like patton. every war is terrible to get them through alive. let me give you my story. >> jennifer: that's what true honor, getting your men out alive. >> no, that's just military competence and efficiency which we have a difficult time understanding these days in the united states. here is my strain of thought. hypothetically january 1944, dwight eisenhower was carrying on with his beautiful red-headed

british chauffeur. if you were a world war ii soldier going into d-day. would you say get him out of there even though it means several hundred soldiers die at omaha beach i don't think so. >> jennifer: i'm talking to you in a day where paula broadwell was suspended from the army. and from a recently retired general, a person who loses a rifle suffers more consequences than a general who loses a war. is she a private taking the fall for this because she ended up getting suspended? >> there is a military saying for that kind of situation. it's different spanks for different ranks. i'm not sure that's the case with petraeus. first he lost his job. >> jennifer: on his own.

he stepped down. >> i would rather have seen obama say look, we're not going to put this out in the public, and i'm going to issue a statement-- >> jennifer: you couldn't have done that, though. >> you don't think so? >> jennifer: no. >> this is not known to the public. just hey dave, go home, make amend, clean up your act. >> jennifer: but you had agency who is were investigating. no way he could have sat on it. eric cantor. >> to me that's the real scandal. why in the hell is the fbi investigating a lover's quarrel. >> jennifer: another person implicated in this, general john allen. do you know him. >> i do, another unusually general. this is another tragedy. these are our successful outlying generals and the military will take away see these guys are so smart ph.d princeton, petraeus, john allen deeply studied the middle east. >> jennifer: what happens next to john allen. he has denied it so someone will

do some sort of investigation presumably. >> i'm so out of predictions. i actually thought the red sox would have a good team this year. i've given up. my wife keeps telling me, remember, more things could come out. >> jennifer: he's been so clear that it wasn't something that he had crossed line on. so presumably he wouldn't be so clear. he knows the investigation turn up one way or another. >> i still don't understand why we're going through people's e-mail. >> jennifer: a final question, do you think that we spend too much time, i mean, in your book you talk about this a bit. propping up the generals as icons when perhaps they are not just in their--not just the sexual side, but they're too

human. >> we pay too much attention to the private lives and inefficient attention to the public execution of their duties. >> jennifer: the man who knows what good military leadership is having written a book on the suspect. welcome inside "the war room," pulitzer prize winning author, thomas ricks, author of "the generals." coming up. they make it look so easy on that cartoon. getting a bill through congress is like pulling teeth off a mountain lion. not that republicans are strong and cool like a mountain lion. plus she's not going anywhere, nancy pelosi remains the house minority leader. this is a thousand good reasons this is a good thing. and i'll tell you the one that top our list. and then later school lunches have become a crucial part of the fight. an innovative program that is

truly feeding the need. it's "the war room," we'll be right back. here in our own country. >> it's an issue that ultimately effects each and every one of us. >> thats why current is stepping up. >> ... by feeding the needy. >>... feeding the needy. >>... feeding the needy. >>... feeding the needy. >> for an entire week we'll explore hunger, malnutrition even obesity. >> ... and offer solutions. >> so join us here at current tv where together, we'll feed the needy. >> brought to you by the all new doge dart. >> doge: new rules.

right by those who gave their lives to for this country nearly 70 years ago. >> jennifer: he's back, mitt romney seem to reprevious his 47% comments in a conference

this afternoon with his national finance committee saying, quote the president followed the old playbook of wooing interest groups especially the african-american community, the hispanic community and young people in each case they were very generous with what they gave to those groups. with regards to young people the forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift. free contraceptives was big with young college-age women and then finally obama-care, that was a big gift to young people and they turned out in large numbers. everything is transactional with this guy. there is absolutely no consideration whether these were the right things to do. the moral thing to do, the path of good policy at least we know he wasn't just pretending to be clueless. he seems lost and even desperate in defeat. but then there is the victor. president obama. he may have won the election but he can't retire his boxing

gloves just yet. he took jabs from republicans led by john mccain and lindsay graham. they're up in arms about potential appointment of susan rice to secretary of state because of the fallout of the benghazi attacks. john mccain called those attacks the president's watergate and this morning he said rice mishandle the administration's respond. >> she's not qualified. anyone who goes on national television in defiance of the facts five days later we're all responsible for what we say and what we do. >> jennifer: he just said she's not qualified. not qualified. susan rice. the stanford phi beta cappa scholar, u.n. ambassador, not

qualified. john mccain doubled down on his remarks with john carl. >> is she effectively disqualified from being secretary of state. you would oppose her nomination? >> yes. >> and we're talking filibuster, do whatever you could to block it. >> yes. >> jennifer: of course he would filibuster, in other words stall in the appointment dies. that's filibuster is what happened throughout president obama's term allowing his appointments to languish. in fact, the average obama judicial nominee waited four times as long for a vote as bush appointees. but now finally the president is actually pushing back. he came out guns blazing in his president conference today. >> obama: let me say specifically about susan rice. she has done exemplary work. if senator mccain, graham and others want to go after someone they should go after me.

i'm happy to have that discussion with them but for them to go after the u.n. ambassador who had nothing to do with benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence she had received, and the to besmirch her reputation is outrageous. >> jennifer: preach it mr. president. still, senator mccain is not backing down. after the president spoke mccain took to the fight to the senate floor. >> if the president thinks that we are picking on people, he really does not have any idea of how serious this issue is. i'm an united states senator. the american people are owed an explanation, and it's our duty to try to get that explanation for them. >> jennifer: yes, you are an

united states senator and he is the united states president and you know, the american people might want an explanation why you're spending their time attacking somebody who the administration has not even nominated yet. the white house has proceeded though with other appointments. so today the white house sent the senate eight federal judiciary nominations adding to the 35 that are still waiting to be confirmed. joining me now for more on the story of filibustering is the "huffington post" political report mike mcauliffe. welcome inside "the war room"." >> thanks for having me on. >> jennifer: you bet. do you expect this threat of a filibuster against susan rice to work? is it going to discourage the administration from nominating her? >> well, i think it will make people think twice about it, and i think it might have discouraged the administration in the previous term, but listening to what the president

said today he sounds a little invigorated i would say and i don't think it would discourage him. i think he would be willing to pick that fight. i think he really likes susan rice. >> jennifer: i'm curious about the interplay of the potential of susan rice being fume nated and the potential of filibuster reform. angus king who will now be caucusing the democrats, he ran on reforming the senate. today he pledge filibuster reform. let's just talk a moment what that might look like. they could do a number of things. they could lower the number of votes needed from 60 to something lower than that. they could eliminate what is known as unlimited debate. they could eliminate what is known as the anonymous hold where the senator can place anonymous hold on any appointment for any amount of time. what of those things, what do you think would have the most support? >> i think eliminating the

anonymous hold. they've gone halfway there. you can't have an indefinite anonymous hold. they have to rotate through senators to keep that going. that's halfway there. another one i've heard talked about is the idea of stopping the filibuster on a procedural motion, get rid of it there. keep it for the hardcore votes and things like that, but clean up the work a little bit. those are things that i suspect would have some sort of support in the senate. >> jennifer: well, do you think some filibuster reform legislation or a vote on it, which would have to require how many votes would there need to be to make a filibuster rule change? >> well, it gets really kind of complex in the weeds, but i'm pretty sure for those sorts of rules things you can do that with the majority vote. but then again it gets-- >> jennifer: well then the question is if you can do that on the majority vote, 51 votes

could that happen in time for someone like susan rice to be confirmed? >> well, hillary clinton is going to serve out her whole term right? this would be happening in the next session. so yes there would be time to do something like that. if someone is being filibustered you have all the time in the rule to change the rules, don't you? >> jennifer: you sure do, at least the way it currently stands. so it would be interesting. you're suggesting that there might be a filibuster ongoing and then harry reid throws in an option to amend the rule so that this person could actually get through the senate on some kind of super majority but not up to 60 or some other way. do you think that the filibuster over susan rice would damage the republican's reputation? in other words are they concerned of being seen as a party of obstruction when they lost the election based on many people viewing them having

obstructed the president's agenda. >> look back at the last several fights. have the american public blamed the democrats for any of them? i don't think so. i don't think that the blame would land on the democrats in the susan rice case either. now, the benghazi thing is a little complicated and people are sort of going the republican way on that, which is maybe what is emboldening that a little bit, but so far most of these things have not gone the republican's ways. the polls don't bear that out and they would have to think twice. >> jennifer: right, "huffington post" political report michael mcauliffe. something we'll be following. up next, no federal law banning abortion no problem. republican lawmakers are continuing their barrage on the right to choose at the state level. that's next, the story you'll only find at "the war room." are very aware of recent studies

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>> jennifer: an international story caught my attention and to me it's really troubling. in ireland a 31-year-old woman went to the hospital in extreme pain. turned out she was pregnant. she was told that her baby would not survive and she would miscarry. they said that would take only a few hours. she was in terrible pain for

three days until the baby eventually died in his or her womb. during that three-day period she asked doctors to terminate the pregnancy several times. begged them because it was so painful and the baby was going to die. they told her because ireland is a catholic country, it's illegal to abort a fetus with a detectable heartbeat. after the miscarriage the woman's only health continued to deteriorate. she was then put in intensive care where three days later she died. now this is a tragedy that never ever should have happened. here's even a more chilling thought. there are now laws in this country in america that could put women in a similar position. in ohio lawmakers are going to consider a fetal heartbeat bill this session. the bill would do what happened in ireland. it would make abortion a crime as soon as a fetal heartbeat is

detected. that could happen before a woman even knows that she's pregnant. this is not just a fringe bees piece of legislation. it now has 50 cosponsors. in ohio, 2012, 50 cosponsors. in may they spoke on the state house steps. >> for the glory of god and the advancement of christian faith. we need to remind that james madison said that basically the error of roe v. wade has led to tierny of our land. >> jennifer: you want to talk about tyranny of taking over a

woman's body, her own health, her own life. that's tyranny. today the ohio's house health committee voted to defund, you guessed it, planned parenthood. that bill is going to the house bill for debate. joining me now kellie copeland. kellie is coming to us via skype from akron ohio. welcome inside "the war room." >> thank you for having me. >> jennifer: you bet. just curious about the fight there. what went through your head when you heard about this irish woman, and how concerned are you that laws like that could pass in ohio? >> well, it's obviously tragic, and it illustrates that politics can be deadly. politics can kill women if women are not protected. ohio passed the heartbeat bill, and we had it stalled in the senate. the rumor is that a compromise

bill has been worked out. it's not been worked out with us, but the anti-choice community in how to outlaw abortion in our state. the rumor is that they'll try to pass it through this lame duck session with the governor's blessing. >> jennifer: is that likely to happen? >> you know, i wouldn't put anything past this legislature. they have passed more anti-choice laws in this last session than in the last ten years combined, and really anything goes with this bunch. >> jennifer: well, ohio is--you know is a moderate state or at least it went for the president this year, which we're all very grateful for. what is going on? why are we seeing such extreme legislation at the state level and i'll just ask you this, what would it mean for ohio women if the legislature, for example, does that and defunds planned planned

parenthood. >> it's jerry manned dering. more people voted democrat for the state legislature in the state of ohio than republican yet we have two-thirds anti-choice and majority in our legislature. it's simply because they got to pick the district. the politicians got to pick their constituents, not the other way around. they know they can pretty much act within anything they would like to do because they really don't have to face the voters. they pick the voters they'll face. and in terms of defunding planned parenthood, an it's not just them. it's other stand-alone family planning clinics as well as who may not even offer abortion services but we know at least 13 counties in the state could lose funding entirely for family planning services. these are rural counties where there is no public transportation, and these women may not find another provider

for basic healthcare needs. it's really a dangerous situation. >> jennifer: kellie, i appreciate you coming and explaining to us what is going on in ohio. this too is something that we'll be following. kellie copeland, assistant director in ohio via skype. we have people like nancy pelosi to lead the charge in the battle. we'll talk about that after the break. and a little bit of skidding on the ice and taking out grandma's garage door. so while you're celebrating, allstate will be standing by. that's allstate's stand. are you in good hands? ♪ ♪

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cook what you love and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. >> jennifer: nancy pelosi is going to continue to serve as house minority leader. she made her announcement as a press conference today surrounded by female members of

congress. there were a couple of really telling moments at today's event. there were many of them, but i want to point out a couple. first, watch this small moment carefully when nancy pelosi calls for the first question of the president conference. listen for which reporters are calling out questions. take a listen. >> a lot of our male friends wanted to come out here. this is girl's morning out. any questions? >> yes yes yes. >> was there ever a moment you considered not staying on? >> jennifer: did you catch that? she chose not to answer the louder male reporter, but instead she answered the female reporter. i know it was a tiny choice, a small moment, but to me it exemplifies why nancy pelosi is such a great leader. because leadership is exercised in decisions large and small. it would have been an easy

decision to default to the louder questioner, but instead she was aware enough, she was sensitive enough to call upon the female reporter, maybe because nancy pelosi unconsciously saw in her the hopes of all those young women out there who are talked over in meetings or in the classroom. she saw her because undoubtedly she has been her. the second reason i'm so happy that she has decided to stay on as minority leader is that in that press conference when a young male reporter asked about whether she was too old to continue in leadership, whether the leadership should just give itself up for more junior members, she first noted that no one had asked that question of the male leaders like mitch mcconnell then she calmly graciously explained not just to the reporter but to all those who may not understand that

often women don't accrue the necessary seniority for traditional advancement because they're penalized when they decide to spend time raising their families. nancy pelosi was elected to congress at age 47, after she had raised her family. many of her male counterparts were elected in their 30s presumably while their wives were raising their families. of course they have more seniority at each calendar year in their lives. now she explains she did not regret her choices but it's one reason why women don't get as many plum assignments because they don't have the seniority. so in staying on nancy pelosi is really looking out for those young women who are coming up. she's help to go redefine seniority and status on her terms. i am grateful and relieved to know it. third, really importantly there is no woman who is more vilified

by the right than nancy pelosi. republicans use nancy pelosi as the whipping girl relentlessly, repeatedly incessantly. being the object of that much focus and hatred and fear, really requires a backbone of steel and a skinned a thick as ary no, sir certificate rouse. rye no, sir rouse. she could laugh read, pick up a hobby instead of with standing the arrows of her antagonists. she decided to stay not just for herself but for all of us. for that i'm really grateful. i want to thank leader pelosi for her decision to lead in things big and small the thousands of decision being made every day by nancy pelosi and those she inspires will, will

bend the arc of history towards justice as bobby kennedy described it. thank you, ma'am, for not taking the easy way. thank you for your battle scars scars that will show that you are willing to fight worthy battles on our behalf. so why exactly did nancy pelosi decide to stay on for leader of the house for democrats? we'll turn to someone she really knows, war room christine pelosi who happens to be nancy pelosi's daughter and chair of the california democratic women's caucus. thank you for being here on this great day. >> this is a great day. i'm very proud. it seems forever ago in political time, that as your daughter i want you to do what you feel in your heart is right. you have done it. you've proved it. you've been there. you've been speaker.

you can do whatever you want to do. >> jennifer: she could retire, rest on her laurels. >> and i said as an activist i really want you to stay. as a woman's right's activist why is it after an election the men stay. why do the women have to go? we're looking at that safety net. why don't we have a woman standing up there for american women. turns out i wasn't alone. there was an outpouring from people who said tell her don't even think about leaving. women leaders labor leaders religious leaders. a priest got in my face the other night. okay father, i'll let her know. fighting for justice reform safety net jobs. remember, this is a class classic dilemma that women face. we still do something if we can.

>> jennifer: it's about action getting results. >> you have to. absolutely. i'm very excited. when i woke up this morning and saw that group of fabulous women, it was so great so diverse. i saw people who are working on the violence against women act jobs, small business. i've seen combat women come in and address women in the military. there is a lot of good talent to nurture. >> jennifer: and the point that she made is really--there are all the women but we need to make sure that they're gaining foot holds in the seniority rosters of congress, and she's in a tremendous position to make sure they're promoted. the fact that you combine women and minority of congress there is a majority of that coalition now in congress for the first

time in history. and that your mom is leading that. i think that's really appropriate, don't you think? >> look at the census. this is the future. as she said this morning. this is what america looks like. this is what the future of our country looks like. what we learned in this election is that the future is on the side of those who care about diversity. we need a bigger, broader and equality and campaign reform to get there. >> jennifer: i'll get there but first let me ask a question about your mom. she's known for not having a stop button, essentially. it seems to me, you know, as someone who is a couple of decades her junior that she is relentless. it exhausts me how much she has got going on. how does they do that? >> chocolate. she eats chocolate ice cream for breakfast. my daughter is trying to emulate her grandmother in all ways,

including eating eye cream for breakfast. >> jennifer: that's good to know. forget the notes, just send chocolate. i want to read a note by paul lindsay. this was i was getting to with respect to her being sort of a focal point for the republicans. he said there is no peter person to preside over the most liberal house democratic caucus in history than the woman who is solely responsible for relegating it to a prolonged minority status. this decision signals that house democrats have absolutely no interest in regaining the trust and confidence of the american people. how can your mother, gracious as she is find common ground with somebody who puts out a statement like that about her. >> you're not going to find common ground with a spokesperson who says that about any democrat. they say that and then say it's really to do that you're so

polarizing. no, it's too bad that you spend $80 million saying mean things about me. two economic stimulus passage more jobs out of this administration, and bipartisan progress on veteran's benefits. it is possible for democrats and republicans to work together. if she made progress with nancy pelosi and george bush was together, then she and john boehner and barack obama can work together. >> jennifer: with all these slings and arrows, she knows it's not about her. >> that's the biggest lesson in politics, you have to be bigger than yourself. >> jennifer: christine, thank you so much, my dear. up next, hunger is everywhere even where you least expect it. after the break we're going to visit an elementary school that is trying to feed the need in an unlikely county. part of our series on hunger. it's a story that you'll only find in the war room on current

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[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> jennifer: one in five kids in our country struggle with hunger. for them a free or reduced school lunch is more than just a meal. it's actually a lifeline. equally important is what is in that school lunch as part of our continuing series feed the needy, we visited one california school district with an innovative approach to the challenge of childhood hunger and malnutrition. [ children playing ] >> could you run ahead and let me know. >> he's crying. >> who's crying. >> where is he? >> jennifer: the job of principal is nonstop breaking up schoolyard fights. making sure that students get to

class on time and learning inside the classroom. for this principal there is an equally critical job making sure that students get enough to eat. eileen smith is the principal of loma verde elementary school in california. this is one of the 25 richest communities, yet among these rolling hills and pristine houses are many families struggling to put food on the table. about 24% of the county's school children qualify for free or reduced lunches and at loma verde, the figure is much higher over 45% of the kids. >> we have a number of children who are food insecure, but the hunger looks different. >> over 30% of low income

preschool children are overweight or obese. >> with poverty there are certain places one would shop as the dollar store and those types of places. they have some inexpensive foods, but they're loaded with the sodium and the sugar. i was really humbled by taking this job and realizing that so many of the children that i see i might once have labeled having too much to eat are, in fact, the children of poverty 12,347 for eileen it's not just important that these kids have food to eat. what's critical is making sure its healthy and nutritious food. >> i like broccoli the most. >> what about you what is your favorite? >> apples and carrots. >> and pears 12,347 she found an ally in the food district.

they would eliminate high sugar like fruit juices and chocolate milk. >> i remember parents saying what are the kids going to eat? i said they're going to drink water or milk 12,347 when miguel calculated the impact, the numbers shocked him. >> i said let's do the math. let's see how much sugar we have taken out of our program. we have estimated we've removed 500-pound of sugar per day from our program. that's serving 4500 kids. >> jennifer: in january president obama signed the hunger free kids act which gave a guideline for lunches for the first time in 15 years. kids are offered fruits and vegetables every day of the week and smaller portion sizes and reducing sodium and saturated fat. >> what we're doing isn't magic. it's hard work and it takes a level of intentionality. i think it means being out

there, people like miguel from our food service being out on the campuses with us, listening to the children, listening to the parents it means that everybody down to the parents to the teachers, to all the staff, that they believe it that they're out there looking at what are the kids eating, talking to them about it. >> i want to you today attention. what do you usually eat for lunch? is it the menu here? do we get school lunches? do you bring lunch from home? what is that? we're going to look at the stuff you should get during the day and compare that to what you're eating and what needs to change. >> jennifer: p.e. teacher keith bergman said that his students are like food ambassadors, taking what they learn at school and taking taking it to their families. >> they're going to be able to help their parents in the market.

anything that you can do whether it be good or bad can spread like a disease. this is a good thing. we'll spread throughout the entire family. >> when i come to work, i work at connecting the three cs. the cafeteria the classroom and the community. every day that we're here, that's what we're having to do, making sure that all those three are in sync and if the kids are hearing these messages from all these areas, after a while they're going to get the message loud and clear. >> jennifer: in order to make sure that the message gets out to the third "c," the community miguel organizes events outside of school such as field trips to an organic farm where parents and children can learn side by side about the benefits of eating fresh vegetables. in this outing they pick kale and charred. >> he didn't like tomatoes before. but because they're in our garden, he picks them off the vine and eats them.

>> jennifer: the charred would have been put back into the soil but instead it will feed families. a weekly event called market day. >> the economy is so hard for everyone and a lot of people are struggling with just the basics of life. >> jennifer: for anna, a mother for two, the foods she picks up helps make ends meet. >> to have two children constantly depending on you. before finding work was a breeze. but a different economy different for the family. >> jennifer: for miguel another opportunity to invite parents to use that kale and chard by using a cooking class. >> we're not all talking about it every day. it's like seat belts.

when do we not wear a seat belt. the same thing with healthy food. we've always eaten healthy food because we know what unhealthy food can do to us. >> can't get any better than that. >> jennifer: i love that story. up next it was freshman orientation day for the incoming congressional class. back to politics. who better to welcome them in washington than brett erlich. he's next in "the war room." brought to you by the all new doge dart. dodge, new rules.

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jennifer speaks truth to power. >>the bottom line is we need an amendment. >>now it's your turn. connect with "the war room" jennifer granholm. >>it's a call to arms. make your voice heard.

>> jennifer: the first day of anything is always a nervous one. school work, even congress. but luckily there is always someone like brett erlich to show you the ropes. so, shh, brett's talking now. >> today is a red letter day. today the freshman class of the 113th congress begins it's orientation. first up, icebreakers where new members of congress share facts about them like what is your favorite instance of government gridlock. and if you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of the senate who that be, which is harder now that scott brown is not around. >> the first caucus in history in the history of civilized government to have a majority of women and minorities in the caucus. you can applaud that. >> clap, clap, that's my job.

msnbc outlines what else to expect. >> one of the first orders of business for congressmen freshman is which iphone to use. >> they can have iphone? no wonder nothing gets done. they're all playing "angry birds." then there is hazing. they must spend five minutes each having a conversation with darrell issa. which is cruel. finally take the time as a freshman think book. who can forget boehner's crazy hat day and i'm with stupid shirt eric cantor wore when he appeared with fellow freshman todd akin. it's all very mr. smith goes to washington made real by the jimmy stewart impersonating michigan mcconnell. >> if you can't human rights from a punch in